1.2.4

Meditation

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Meditation

Meditation is the primary practice of a Buddhist, with the aim of transforming their minds to a state of clearer vision and ultimate peace.

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Meditation

  • Meditation is based on the experience of Buddha.
  • Samatha is concentration, performed in order to calm the mind.
  • Some Buddhists use a meditation-object to concentrate on.
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Necessary Meditation

  • Metta bhavana (loving kindness) is concerned with developing kindness, repeating phrases like 'may you be happy'.
  • Vipassana meditation is an insight into what the true nature of our reality is. In the Theravada tradition, it is an insight into the Three Marks of Existence: impermanence, suffering and the realisation of non-self.
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Other forms of Meditation

  • Mindfulness breathing is found in Tibetan, Zen and Theravada. Buddha taught people to sit beneath a tree and notice the breath, which helps in training the mind to be sensitive and focused.
  • Zazen is seated meditation, practised in Zen Buddhism, as a means of insight into the nature of existence. There are two schools:
    • Studying Koan, a puzzle with no solution showing how inadequate logical reasoning is, leading to enlightenment.
    • Where the mind has no object at all.
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Pure Land Visualisation

  • In the Amitayus Meditation Sutra, the Buddha describes to the imprisoned Queen Vaidehi the thirteen visualisation methods corresponding to the levels of rebirth.
  • Contemplation of:
    • the setting sun.
    • the expanse of water.
    • the ground in the Pure Land.
    • trees in the Pure Land.
    • ponds in the Pure Land.
    • various objects in the Pure Land.
    • lots- throne of the Buddha.
    • the image of Amitabha Buddha.
    • Amitabha Buddha.
    • Avalokitesvara.
    • Mahasthamaprapta.
    • the aspirants to the Pure Land.
    • Amitabha and the two bodhisattvas.
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Nine levels of birth

  • The final part of the sutra is when Gautama Buddha categorises the nine levels of those born in the Pure Land.
  • The highest grade, the middle grade and the lowest grade, all have within them:
    • highest level.
    • middle level.
    • lowest level.

Chanting

Chanting is the traditional means of preparing the individual's mind for meditation.

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Chanting

  • In the Theravada Buddhism, the most common chants are: 1) Buddhabhivadana (a preliminary reverence to the Buddha) 2) Tiratana (the three refuges) 3) Pancasila (the five precepts)
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Dhammapada 1-2

  • 'Mind precedes all knowables, mind’s their chief, mind-made are they. If with a corrupted mind one should either speak or act dukkha follows caused by that, as does the wheel the ox’s hoof. Mind precedes all knowables, mind’s their chief, mind-made are they. If with a clear, and confident mind one should speak and act as one’s shadow ne’er departing.' (Dhammapada 1-2)
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Dhammapada 190

  • 'He who has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Teaching and his Order, penetrates with transcendental wisdom the Four Noble Truths — suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the Noble Eightfold Path leading to the cessation of suffering'.
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Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

  • Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is the name for the Lotus Sutra in the Japanese Buddhist tradition.
  • In the Japaenese school, the Lotus Sutra is believed to be a culmination of 50 years of the Buddha's teaching.

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